English Teaching Undergraduates Attend UCTE Conference
On February 7, 2025, 15 English Teaching undergraduate students attended the Utah Council of Teachers of English (UCTE) conference with Associate Professor and UCTE President Jessica Rivera-Mueller. Sebree Barney, Talon Broadbent, Emma Erickson, Amelia Frandsen, Kayleigh Kearsley, Elizabeth Leishman, Kalli Leukhardt, Ivy Morgan, Samantha Overdiek, Spencer Roush, Braden Shaffer, Jessi Swearingen, Izzy Telford, Lena Thurber, and Cora Van Nest, future English teachers and ENGL 4500: Teaching Writing students, went and launched a state-wide online writing competition for 6-12 grade students. The competition, QUEST, is organized through UCTE and facilitated by these USU English Teaching students.
In the competition, middle and high school students write narratives, arguments, short stories, and poetry. While some students are awarded prizes from the English undergraduate judges, all receive two feedback letters. “This is a beautiful collaboration,” Jessica says. “It allows preservice teachers to practice that art of crafting meaningful feedback for writers, and it provides the writers with two different perspectives on their writing.”
This year’s competition theme, chosen by the future English teachers, is Memory and Identity. Braden comments, “Group brainstorming was key to setting up the QUEST writing competition. The launch was well-received at UCTE, and teacher sign-ups were higher this year than they have been in recent history. We’re all so excited to read students’ work from across the state!”
In the next couple of months, students in the Teaching Writing course will be judging the QUEST competition and providing feedback for all of the submitters. “I most look forward to seeing what these young writers are capable of,” Cora says.
Alongside the launch of this year’s QUEST competition, the undergraduate students had the opportunity to learn from breakout sessions, professional development opportunities, and keynote speaker Shannon Hale.
“The highlight of the conference for me was best-selling author Shannon Hale’s keynote speech where she talked about Curiosity and Compassion and how to foster this in very unique, impactful ways in the classroom,” reflects Kayleigh. “There were also several other great practical applications that were mentioned throughout the conference, such as using picture books in the classroom, incorporating graphic novels, using simulations to introduce lessons, and gamifying the learning process of phonetics. It was fascinating, and I was able to take away several great ideas that I plan to incorporate in my future classroom.”
Kayleigh emphasized the importance of the conference as a means to network, learn from new perspectives, and feel more confident in her trajectory toward a career in teaching English. “I’m always on the lookout for new, engaging ways to more effectively transform my classroom into a positive learning environment,” she says. “I really appreciated the opportunity to learn from authors and educators from across the state of Utah and learn new ways to make English education more exciting for my future students.”
The conference was a way for the undergraduate students to begin cultivating their identities as professional educators. “The UCTE conference benefitted me as a future English teacher by showing me what I have to look forward to in my future career,” Cora comments. “I learned many different ways to approach teaching reading and writing in the classroom and how to keep student engagement.”
“The UCTE conference showed me that I’m not alone,” Braden reflects. “Utah has so many passionate teachers that want to make a difference to their students, and I hope to be one of them someday!”
In addition to the undergraduates attending, graduate students Amrutha Smith, Seth Callor, and Mason Goodrich delivered a presentation with Jessica entitled “Let’s Chat about Language, Embodiment, and AI: Conversations to Grow as a Writing Teacher.”
Alyssa Bringham, USU alum and current teacher at Bear River High School, won Teacher of the Year for Early Career in High School. During her time at USU, she was an Undergraduate Teaching Fellow for Jessica’s Teaching English course.
“The conference was truly a life-changing opportunity,” Kayleigh says. “It further ignited my passion for English, and I look forward to utilizing the networking skills I strengthened to continue to collaborate with other future and current educators in order to become a more effective and engaging educator.”